RCSet up your flight#
Use this guide after your first flight. It covers the aircraft's starting position, your viewpoint and the on-screen flight references.
Choose what to fly and where#
Open Fly → Flight setup. Its three tabs keep the setup in one place:
| Tab | Change here |
|---|---|
| Aircraft | Aircraft selection and launch mode |
| Field | Scenery, wind and weather settings |
| Input | Input device and control response |
Choose Ground to start stationary, Hand throw for a launched fixed-wing plane, or In flight to begin at altitude. Start with low wind while learning a new aircraft. Check the throttle readout before pressing Start flight.
For less sensitive controls, select Gentle under Input. It reduces response; it does not make a fixed-wing plane self-level. Tune rates and mixing explains the adjustments.
Choose your view#
| View | What you see |
|---|---|
| Pilot | The aircraft from your position on the ground |
| Chase | A camera following the aircraft |
| FPV | The view from an installed onboard camera |
Press V to cycle available views. If FPV is unavailable, mount a camera in the aircraft editor. Press F to locate the aircraft from the pilot view. Camera selection is retained when you visit another workspace.
Position the aircraft and pilot#
Open Position & view on Fly. Use its shared map to place the aircraft or select You to move the blue pilot marker. Beside aircraft and Flight line provide quick pilot positions.
- Drag a marker to place it. Use arrow keys for small adjustments; Shift uses 10 m steps.
- Drag the map background to pan and scroll to zoom.
- In Pilot view, use I/J/K/L to walk forward/left/back/right. Eye height is 1.7 m.
- Use WASD to walk gives those keys to pilot movement; arrow keys remain available for flight.
Drag the field to look around. Keep aircraft in view returns your attention to the aircraft after looking. Focus at distance gradually zooms the pilot view as the aircraft moves away, up to 1.8× magnification. Turn it off for a fixed viewing angle. In Chase, scroll changes follow distance.
Read the flight reference panel#
The lower-left panel combines an attitude indicator with a north-up minimap:
| Display | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Bank and pitch | Aircraft orientation |
| Amber marker | Aircraft position |
| Blue marker | Your ground position |
| Runway, trail and sightline | Where you are flying relative to the field and pilot |
The map adjusts its scale to include the aircraft, pilot and runway. Click it to open Position & view, or collapse the panel for more flight space. These readings come from the simulation; they are not GPS or radio telemetry.
Pause, reset and return to flying#
Use Enter to start/resume, P to pause and R to reset. The bottom bar also provides these actions. Reset returns to the chosen launch state and keeps your aircraft edits. After a crash, use Restart flight.
Flight pauses when the window loses focus. Click the field and resume deliberately. When a form or menu owns the keyboard, flight shortcuts wait; press Esc to close flight setup or click the field again. See troubleshooting if keys or controller input seem unresponsive.
Next: configure your controls or edit the aircraft.